Rude Awakening
by Rain611
Summary: Catherine always knew something wasn't quite right in her life. But is she ready to learn the truth?
1. What is reality?

**Forward: I do not own The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, or any other aspect of the series. I do, however, own Catherine. **

**Rude Awakening**

**Chapter 1: What is reality?**

She didn't know what she did wrong. She'd never been in trouble with the law before, and now three federal agents were after her. She walked quickly down the moonlit street as she tried to escape the three men following her. They walked side by side almost robotically, and in sync. Not knowing exactly why she feared her followers so, she began to run, regardless of the lack of feeling in her legs. Just seconds later, she cried aloud as the men caught up to her. The next thing she knew, two of the three agents were holding her down in a dark alley; the third was removing something from his jacket. She didn't know what it was; it was small, metallic, with a coil on one end. Just as the third agent was approaching her, Cat woke up in her bed in a cold sweat.

A few things bothered Cat about her dream. One was the fact that it happened shortly after she realized the subtle abnormalities occurring around her. Nothing too noticeable; clothes and other items seemed slightly out of place, and some things seemed to gain an almost unnoticeable green tint. The second thing that bothered her was the group of men that attacked her. They seemed…cold; emotionless; inhuman. They were dressed dark colored suits that were not quite black, and they wore identical sunglasses. The last thing that bothered her was how vivid the dream was. She felt like she was there…had she not woken up, she wouldn't have had a problem believing her dream was reality.

Reality…the word became rather hazy to Cat over the past few weeks. Just what was reality? Was it the mediocre life that she could barely pay for? About a month ago she would have laughed at the question. But that was before the dream; before the subtle differences peppered throughout her daily life. Now she wasn't sure what to think. She kept thinking to herself that there had to be something else in life, she just couldn't put her finger on it. As if it was a key that she was struggling to reach. Little did she know, the key led to a journey that a minute group of people had traveled.

Cat sat in front of her computer minutes after waking up. She'd been looking for the infamous Morpheus for months now. Rumor had it he was the one that could tell her what was going on. Unfortunately, coming across said individual had proven to be nearly impossible. Those who had met him were never the same afterward. And they were rarely seen. The mystery scared Cat a little, but her want of knowledge about the true nature of her life that she couldn't quite reach easily outweighed her fear.

Cat snapped her eyes open, unaware of the fact that she had even fallen asleep. She looked at the computer screen, anxious to see if anything had been found. She was angered to find that her computer froze. She sighed in frustration and began furiously moving her mouse, not wanting to have to reboot her computer after an hour of progress. Nothing. Still not wanting to give up, she tried every key combination she could think of to try to regain control of the situation. Just as she had given up, her computer screen went black.

"Damn it; what now…?" Cat asked herself in the darkness.

But nothing was wrong; someone was sending her a message.

_They know you know. You have to get out of there._

Cat laughed to herself, and decided to play along. She had nothing better to do at this hour.

_Who are you?_

The messenger responded quickly.

_There's no time. If you want to know the truth, you must risk everything._

"The truth…?" Cat no longer felt that this was a joke. At least she hoped it wasn't. She'd never told anyone about what she'd seen…

_What should I do?_

_First we need to meet. I'll be at the town library in one hour. _

Before Cat could respond, the messenger signed off.

She sat staring at the screen for a few seconds, soaking in what had just happened. She had no clue who this stranger was, but she had to take a chance. This couldn't just be a coincidence. And she had nothing to lose.

Catherine swiftly rose from her chair and slid into her worn out jean jacket. It probably wouldn't help with the light downpour outside, but that didn't matter. It was the last thing that occurred to her at this point. Without bothering to turn her computer off, she left her cramped apartment for the last time.


	2. Bugged

_Radish Earings: Thank you for reviewing, and I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. Anyway, on to chapter 2…_

**Chapter 2: Bugged**

Cat walked quickly in down the dark, empty streets that were now slick with rain. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail that was now heavy against her back due to the rain. As she walked, Cat adjusted her jacket collar. She was beginning to get an uneasy feeling in her stomach. After all, here she was walking down the street in pouring rain to meet someone who could very well have been some kid playing a joke on her after staying up with nothing to do.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. _It's not just a coincidence…_she tried to convince herself.

After a lonely walk, Cat finally reached the library, but there was no one in site.

"Christ…that figures." Cat sat down on the wet cement stairs no longer caring about the rain. She rose a hand to her face as she coughed. "Ah…perfect…"

She rose from the steps and began to walk the way she came. She hung her head and looked at her feet as she walked. Her spirits had sunk to an all time low. Just when she thought…no, she knew that her life was going to change, that she wasn't going crazy, that there was something else, nothing happened. Almost surprising herself, she felt her eyes begin to tear. She quickly wiped a runaway tear away as it tried to find its way down her cheek.

She looked up after seeing headlights. It was a dark car with tinted windows.

_Agents_

Cat began to panic and picked up her pace. The car stopped behind her, and a young woman exited through the rear passenger door.

"Cat."

Cat stopped walking and slowly turned around.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

The woman was dressed in black leather and wore sunglasses. Cat couldn't remember having met anyone like this. She removed her sunglasses and spoke softly, trying to calm Cat.

"My name in Trinity. I'm here to lead you to the truth."

Cat's worry was now replaced with anxiety. Was this really happening? She found herself walking to the car almost unconsciously. No…she shouldn't be doing this. She'd heard all the stories of people being taken by people they don't even know; being placed in strange vehicles and never being seen again. But she ignored the warning bells this time.

"Please, sit." Trinity said, motioning for Cat to get into the car.

She got in and sat down slowly. There were two other people in the car. One, a male, was also dressed in dark clothes and sunglasses. The other was a young woman dressed in a bright white that contrasted the others in the car with her. Cat looked at them closely, defenses high. After Trinity reentered the vehicle, the party began to drive again.

"Who are you people?"

Trinity spoke, allowing the others to focus on the drive.

"This is Apoc," she started, pointing at the driver. "and this is Switch." She pointed to the woman in the front passenger seat.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We're taking you to see Morpheus."

"Morpheus? Thee Morpheus?"

Trinity smiled to herself.

"Yes, Morpheus. But first…Apoc, stop the car."

Apoc abruptly stopped the car with a jerk as Trinity took a large contraption from the floorboard.

Cat looked at the three strangers in the car wide eyed now; this seemed all to familiar.

"Woah, woah…what are you doing?"

"I think you're bugged. Lie back and lift up your shirt."

Cat laughed aloud nervously, not doing as she was asked. Trinity stopped handling the grungy contraption and once again talked to Cat in a soothing voice.

"Cat, if you want to know the truth, you have to trust me."

Cat sat momentarily staring into Trinity's eyes. The sincerity found there calmed her a little, and she reluctantly agreed to lie back and reveal her stomach. Trinity once again picked up the odd looking contraption she was handling before and placed it on her stomach.

"Try to relax." Trinity said under her breath, her attention now on a small screen attached to the contraption.

Cat gasped in surprise as 3 metal hooks secured the device to her stomach, and she felt something start to move. Trinity began feverously watching the 'thing' that she felt. Cat began to panic.

"What the hell…?"

"Apoc, now."

Seconds later, Cat was paralyzed as a jolt of electricity passed through her body. When the shocks stopped she sat up, on the verge of crying. Trinity turned and dumped something out the window. No…not something. It. The thing that those agents approached her with in the dark alley in…

"My dream…"


	3. Morpheus

**At long last I've completed another chapter. Please excuse the lack of updates; I've been struggling through a fit of writer's block here lately…**

Radish Earings, thank you for once again reviewing; I like reviews as much as you like updates. I'll try to get them out quicker :)

Daryl, I'm glad reading my fan fiction has been a pleasant experience for you so far. Please continue reading and leaving reviews; they are much appreciated.

**Chapter 3: Morpheus**

Cat slowly entered the room and stood in awe as she saw Morpheus in his regal dress. He wore a dark trench coat atop a dress suit. Sunglasses sat on the bridge of his nose. He turned slowly and smiled warmly at Cat, motioning her to meet him in the middle of the large mahogany colored room. She finally approached him, and at last he spoke.

"Please take a seat." He motioned toward the two leather chairs sitting next to him. Between the chairs sat a small table. Sitting on the tables top was a large glass of water. Cat took a seat, following Morpheus's lead. Cat sat silently, not knowing exactly what to think of the situation.

"I know that you are confused about everything that has taken place tonight," Morpheus began. "however I also know that you've been confused for quite some time about things others overlook...I guess one could say that you're feeling a bit like Alice...tumbling down the rabbit hole?" Morpheus fell silent and removed a small metal box from his coat and began playing with it. Cat looked on.

"I know that you have been looking for me for some time now. I am glad to finally meet you." Morpheus held out his hand. Cat looked at it, still unsure, and shook it politely.

"You know about…everything?" Cat asked, finally opening up.

"Yes. I know about the agents. I know about the green tint. I know about the dreams."

"And you can…what? Make it go away?"

Morpheus laughed to himself briefly.

"Believe me Cat, if I could make it go away, I would. But that is beyond my power."

"Than what am I doing here?" Cat asked, now feeling discouraged.

"You are here in order to learn the truth." Morpheus opened the small box and placed the contents in his hands.

"The truth…?"

"The knowledge that there is, in fact, something more to life than you know. You've always felt that there was something more, but were helpless to find it. Until now." He put on of the items in his other hand, and exposed his palms to Cat revealing two pills.

Cat looked at his hands and immediately became defensive again. He was going to drug her. And she could've gotten away. Everything in her body told her to leave earlier when she had the chance. She should've-

"This is your last chance." Morpheus said, now adopting a serious tone of voice. "After this there is no turning back. Take the blue pill, you wake up in your bed and believe…whatever you want to believe. Take the red pill…you stay in Wonderland…and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

No, she shouldn't do it. She didn't know what those pills were. She didn't know these people. For all she knew, they could be pulling a joke on her. Who knows what would happen if she took one of those pills…

"Look, I-"

"I know you're worried, Cat." It was Trinity. She had regained her soothing tone of voice. "You have to trust him. It's the only way to learn the truth; to be free."

Cat watched Trinity, looking for any sign of waver that might give away her insincerity, but none came. She returned her gaze to Morpheus, who also seemed unwavering. Right, she shouldn't do this. But she had nothing to lose. Cat reached for the red pill lying in Morpheus's hand and washed it down with the glass of water that was sitting on the table. Morpheus immediately put the blue pill back in the box and rose to his feet.

"Follow me." He commanded.


	4. Awakening

**Hello, readers. I've finally gotten around to working on my stories once again, having now rewritten After Saw and several other short stories, both original and non. Now, I plan to focus exclusively on fanfictions that I've not yet finished. Thanks to those that have reviewed in the past. Hopefully you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters as much as those that have preceeded the following.**

**Chapter 4: Awakening**

She'd be lying if she said she believed at that point…or at any time throughout her journey before awakening. Not that she didn't look forward to some kind-any kind of freedom from her life. It was simply that this-the sudden messenger, the meetings with infamous hackers Trinity and Morpheus-were, in reality (or what Cat thought to be reality), no different than any dream that she'd ever had. Yes, it was strange, but she'd had strange dreams before. Even now, as Morpheus led her into a small room packed with miscellaneous gadgets and several computers, Catherine fully expected to wake up.

Morpheus removed his sunglasses for the first time since their meeting and Catherine could finally see his eyes. They reassured her, having a sense of peace about them. She still wouldn't let her guard down though. She couldn't. Not yet.

"Please sit, Catherine." Morpheus motioned to yet another chair for her to take a seat. All the while, Cat regained her feeling of anxiety, having no idea what these strangers had in store for her.

"Okay." Cat replied softly as she cautiously sunk into the plushy chair. She couldn't help but move; she unconsciously began tapping her fingers on the chair and swaying her leg slightly, back and forth, left to right.

"Don't worry, Cat. It won't be long now." Morpheus comforted.

"What? Before I wake up and end this dream?" Cat asked sarcastically. Sarcasm was easily her most comfortable defense when in a state of unease. To her surprise, Morpheus laughed briefly at her statement before answering.

"Yes, that's right. You will wake up very soon. And then I'll show you the truth."

Cat was angered by Morpheus's actions. _Why did he laugh at me? _She asked herself. _Why won't he tell me the truth?_

"Tell me now." Cat demanded, more out of fear than the anger bubbling inside of her.

Morpheus stood quiet for a moment before crouching in front of her.

"Unfortunately one can not be told the truth." He paused once again. "They must see it for themselves."

Cat sighed in frustration. This was going nowhere. Here she sat in the same circumstances as she had before. Nothing had changed. She'd yet to learn the 'truth' about what was going on around her or exactly how she would wake up.

"Look, if you don't want to tell me anything I might as well leave." Cat came close to tears again.

A hand on her arm…it was Trinity. Cat didn't dare look at her in her current state. She'd always considered any display of emotion as weakness, and in the presence of such a legend, showing weakness was unacceptable.

"Cat it's okay. We've found you." She said cheerfully. Cat barely noticed her hand begin to freeze.

"What…?" Cat uttered.

Cat gasped is shock as she looked down at her hand which was now being swallowed up. She had no idea what it was, but she was almost certain the silver mirrored substance would cause her some kind of harm, especially when it began to travel toward her shoulder, and onward across you chest. Having lost all control now, Cat began to cry aloud. The substance quickly crawled up her neck and into her mouth as she uttered a strained scream.

_I've let them kill me._

-----

Catherine's eyes burst open as she woke, almost certain she'd be lying in bed having ended one of her weirdest nightmares to date. Upon waking however, horror greeted her.

Fire burned her eyes when she opened them to find that her vision had gone pink. She closed her eyes in order to gain some kind of relief.

Instead of rejoicing her newfound relief, Cat began to panic. She was under water. Almost unconsciously, her right fist flew above her as it tried to find a surface, but found only a leathery cover. Having not noticed the breathing tube within her, Cat decided to hold her breath. Using both hands now, she began to dig at the cover above her before she most certainly drowned.

Finally the cover tore and Cat forced herself into a sitting position and tried to breathe. She gagged when she finally noticed the tube that invaded both her throat and her nostrils. Little did she care why this thing was in her, she violently removed it, once again gagging, this time from feeling the long snakelike tubes working their way out of her body. She drew a long breath and held it for several seconds before releasing it.

_Cold._

It was too cold. Cat look down at her arms to find that she was bare, covered in some kind of gel. Several more large snakelike tubes extended from both her forearms and her chest. She uttered a cry of shock and concern as she began to examine her body. Hardly had she had time to find the cord that exited the base of her skull before she was blinded by a light just before her. Her eyes screamed with unknown pain before she finally covered her face with her right hand.

A split second later, Cat felt metal close around her neck. Instinctively she grabbed the metal at her neck, but it did no good. From all around her body, tubes began to snap away, causing an unknown number of shocking pains. She'd nearly fainted by the time the captor finally let her go. Despite her best efforts to support herself when she was released, Cat fell limply back into the pod from which she'd surfaced.

_I'm dreaming. _She finally convinced herself. _I haven't woken up yet._

No longer concerned with her surroundings, having convinced herself that she was still dreaming, Cat allowed herself to sink to the bottom of the pod. Wracked with pain and exhaustion, she closed her eyes and tried to convince herself to breathe, but had no time to do so. Almost immediately, the gel in the pod, along with Catherine herself, was washed away.

She remembered little about anything that happened after the pod was flushed. She remembered a feeling as though she was falling, and then being lifted up by…something. After what seemed like an eternity of darkness, she finally opened her eyes once again.

At first she didn't see much; a blur of light and two distinct silhouettes of human figures. Still her eyes plagued her with pain. The light seemed too bright.

"Turn the lights off." Cat uttered. She barely recognized her own scratchy voice as she spoke.

With no reply, the lights around her were quickly shut off and Cat heard footsteps beside her.

"Be still Cat." It was Morpheus. She longed to see his face after her frightful experience in the pod, but didn't dare open her eyes again.

"My eyes…" She whispered.

"Your eyes…will get better in time, just as the rest of your body will." He replied, speaking with an obvious tone of remorse in his voice.

"What did you do to me?" Cat managed to ask.

"I've freed you."


	5. Goals

**Hello, readers. Chapter 5 is up. I know this one might be a little skimpy, but I have much planned for the near future of this fiction. Expect chapter 6 to be posted soon.**

**Chapter 5:Goals**

She lay in a makeshift cot now, in a small room just big enough to sleep in. Cat lay feeling empty.

She'd come to the conclusion that since waking up in the pod, she probably wouldn't wake up again. Whether or not this was a good thing remained to be seen. Everything did. All she could do now was wait…think.

Not since her night alone in her room had Cat thought about the nature of reality. Now, although she'd convinced herself that this was no longer a dream, it was taking a little longer to convince herself of a parallel truth; this was real. Everything in her past life was simply a dream. She knew she'd wake up. But not like this.

Cat raised her right hand to her scalp, absently feeling the fine hairs beginning to grow. She'd emerged from the pod completely bare, with no clothes or even hair. Not even eyebrows. In the little time she'd spent conscious, she felt as though she was always the focal point in the room because of this. Little did she know, all of the attention she was receiving was due to the fact that she was just born.

To her left, the steel door that closed Cat's room opened with a rusted screech. It was Morpheus. Cat didn't sit up to greet him, but rather remained on her back, hands running through what little hair she had at the moment.

"How are you, Cat?" Morpheus asked softly. Cat brought herself to a sitting position and silently offered him a place to sit before eyeing the floor and answering him.

"I'm…lost." She answered after some contemplation. Confused eyes rose from their place to meet those of Morpheus who now sat beside Cat.

"I understand. Many things will confuse you in the near future as you adjust to your new surroundings." He fell silent and waited for a response from the newly freed mind.

"You saved me…" Cat spoke almost unconsciously, recalling what Morpheus told her. "What the hell is all of this?"

"This," Morpheus glanced around Cat's small room briefly before returning to Cat. "This is the real world. I'll show you more as you regain your strength."

Cat looked once again at the floor and chuckled. "The real world."

Morpheus rose silently from his place on the bunk and returned to the door, turning back to speak to Cat just once more before leaving. "When you're ready, we'll begin your training."

Cat simply looked at him as he left. Training? What kind of training? And why?

A tear ran freely down Cat's cheek as she thought about the little that Morpheus shared with her before leaving shortly after. This is the real world. Everything before was…not real. Everyone and everything she'd ever known was a lie. Every cold insult from sworn enemies and every warm embrace alike. It was a new start, although Cat was now unsure that she even wanted it.

"Why was I freed?" She asked herself aloud. "What makes me so special?"

She lay down on her bed once again and closed her eyes as she thought. Surely there was someone else who deserved a new beginning she supposed; more so than she herself deserved to wake up. Her eyes burst open as a thought suddenly entered her mind. She would give this new 'reality' a shot. If it didn't work, surely there was a way she could go back to sleep.

-----

"Morpheus, I need to talk to you." Cat asked from across the crude breakfast table at which they, along with the rest of the crew sat. The others casually glanced at her from their mystery breakfast as she spoke.

"Speak." Morpheus somewhat commanded.

"No, you don't understand." Cat stopped as she met the eyes of those who were now watching her intently. When they got tired of waiting for her to finish, they returned to their meal. Morpheus was the only one that maintained eye contact. "I need to talk to you alone."

Switch laughed to herself as she heard Cat's statement. No doubt had she heard such statements from minds that were freed in the past for no good reason.

Morpheus sat, his hands under his chin, as he thought. Cat eyed him as he did so, and she was a little tickled. When she'd met him last, Morpheus not only spoke the part of fearless leader, but also looked it. He wore a long trench coat atop dress clothing and was adorned with nice shades. Here, the same regal man sat before her in rags amongst a crew that was dressed in the same fashion.

"Okay." He finally replied. "Meet me outside in a few minutes."

Having not actually expected her initiation to be so easy, Cat couldn't help but smile. Until she got the knot in her stomach. What was she supposed to say? She didn't want to risk sounding ungrateful…

-----

"So, I was wondering…" Cat trailed, not knowing exactly where she wanted to go with her conversation.

"Yes?" Morpheus replied. He sat alongside Cat against the wall just outside of the cafeteria.

"You said I was going to wake up. Why was I asleep in the first place?" It seemed like a good place for her to start, although she hated waiting through and answer she didn't really want to know. It didn't matter now.

"The Matrix had you." He said matter-of-factly. After receiving no further response from Cat, he continued. "The Matrix is a computer generated world. Something of a masterpiece in spite of it's purpose."

Cat looked at him somewhat confused as he continued.

"Think of it like a virtual reality game. Billions of people are simultaneously submersed in this virtual world from birth, and therefore grow up believing that this virtual world is real."

"You're telling me I was plugged in to a game for my entire life?" Cat chuckled at the thought.

"Plugged in…yes. A game? Far from it."

Not liking Morpheus's newly adopted tone, Cat regained her sense of confusion, this time joined by a feeling of defensiveness.

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. But before we can do that, we need to get some facts straightened out."

Immediately Cat felt as though Morpheus had learned of her plan to find a way out of this new reality. But how did he know? No matter. She decided that, although he must know of her plan, she had to stick to it if she expected an outcome.

----

"Do you really need to restrain me?" As Cat sat in the old chair, Trinity began applying foot restraints. Morpheus sat in the chair next to Cat, completely calm.

"It's a precaution for newly freed minds." Trinity replied.

"Oh, okay. That makes me feel better. How is this going to help me?" Although she knew that finding a way to re-enter the Matrix was only the first of tasks that needed to be done (she wasn't yet sure what she would do then, but it was a start), she wasn't entirely looking forward to being restrained in this chair.

Tank took his place at the monitors and began typing something. Cat couldn't tell what he was writing though, because the only thing on the monitors surrounding him was a green rain of glyphs.

From behind her, Trinity fumbled with a screen before picking up the large needle that rested next to the chair.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute." Cat began to struggle against her restraints, but it was no use.

"Try to relax Cat." To her surprise it was Morpheus who spoke instead of Trinity. "The hard part will be over in just a moment."

Cat barely had time to register Morpheus's words before she was jolted away from her seat. For several seconds she felt an overwhelming feeling in her head. It wasn't pain, but rather a scraping pressure. And then it was gone.

Before Cat stood Morpheus against a solid white infinity. No walls seemed to be present, and neither was there an apparent floor beneath the pair. He was dressed in his usual dress clothing and sunglasses. He walked calmly toward Cat, who was now examining herself in this new surrounding. She found herself once again wearing her worn out jean jacket, her long hair in a tight ponytail behind her. The plugs in her arms were gone. She was completely normal again. A smile surface on her face.


End file.
